Twitter Chat: "Explaining Disability Issues to Family & Friends," August 13, 2017

August 13, 2017 #CripTheVote Chat: Explaining Disability Issues to Family & Friends

We all have people in our lives … family, friends, coworkers … who we love and who love us, but who don’t really share our understanding of disability culture and activism. Most of us also know people who are flawed allies. They sincerely believe they are "on our side," but often miss the mark in important ways. We may also encounter indifference from family and friends. When we try to share our fears about disability policy, or our excitement about disability activism, they give us blank looks and hurry to change the subject.

This chat will explore ways disabled people can try to explain to people close to them what disability activism is all about. We hope to collect some simple tips and coping mechanisms we can all use to widen support for the disability community’s key principles and priorities.

How to Participate

Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility.

When it’s time, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation.

If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote

If you are overwhelmed by the volume of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check the @DisVisibility account. Each question will tweeted there 5-6 minutes apart.

Check out this explanation of how to participate in a Twitter chat by Ruti Regan: https://storify.com/RutiRegan/examplechat

Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc - https://www.facebook.com/HEARDDC/videos/1181213075257528/

Questions

Q1: What is it like discussing disability experiences and issues with your non-disabled family & friends? #CripTheVote‬

Q2: Have you experienced conflict between your family or friends’ religious or political views, and your disability identity? #CripTheVote

Q3: Do your family & friends understand how disability issues - like healthcare or the ADA - affect you personally? #CripTheVote

Q4: ‪Do you feel free to share fears about disability policy developments, or excitement about activism, with family & friends? #CripTheVote‬

Q5: How do non disabled people close to you regard your disability identity and activism? #CripTheVote

Q6: When family or friends say things about disability that anger you, what do you usually do or say? #CripTheVote

Q7: What success have you had getting family or friends to join in with disability activism? #CripTheVote

Q8: What communication strategies work/don't work for explaining disability issues to people close to you? #CripTheVote

Q9: What are some of the core facts & ideas about disability you wish family and friends understood better? #CripTheVote